London Health Libraries 'Library Assistants' Day'

On the 7th December, I attended the 'Library Assistants' day' at Stewart House. The event was run by the NHS London Deanery and is a yearly event aimed to allow library assistants from a range of London health libraries a chance to engage with current issues and network. Although not based in a NHS library, I was keen to attend due to the insight the day would give to wider issues within the health sector and for an opportunity to meet those working in similar roles within different institutions. The day began with introduction by Richard Osborn, Strategic Library Services Development Manager, NHS London and a presentation on 'How is the NHS changing? How might these changes affect our library services?' Richard provided an overview of the current organisation within the NHS and explained the timeline for the proposed changes to take place. The infographic below was referenced which details how the health and care system will look from April 2013.

 Richard continued to explain that the changes within the system are based on two principles from the Health and Social Care Act 2012, being that;

1.  Patients should share in every decision about their care
2. Those responsible for patient care should have power to continually improve care for patients 

 After a summary of the proposed changes, Richard referenced the Peter Hill report of 2008 in order to explore the purpose of NHS library services and their influence in developing the health and care system. In line with developments in electronic publishing and accessibility, he announced that the NHS would move towards journals being  delivered primarily electronically by January 2014 and for information services to promote and pilot mobile access to information resources.
The second aspect of the day focused on comparing the work of Library and Information Assistants across the network. It was great to hear from others what their day to day duties consist of and to discuss the levels of responsibility that library assistants have in different institutions. It was clear from the discussion that working in the information sector provides you with transferable skills; focused on customer care, effective administration and information provision and retrieval. I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss with other assistants what we 'like the most' about working in health libraries, to which I contributed that I enjoyed the aspects of specialist research involved in providing a health information service and the opportunity to provide healthcare professionals with the support and resources needed to further their learning and practice. e-Learning was next on the agenda and the resources available to those within the London and national networks.
Following a discussion on e-learning resources, Richard headed a particularly helpful session on answering enquiries. The session involved group discussion and some useful tips on how to best manage the enquiry process. The importance of ascertaining exactly what a user is asking for was re-enforced and follow up questions were suggested in order to clarify important information. Richard suggested agreeing deadlines with users to ensure they are kept informed of the progress of their enquiry. As a conclude to the day we were introduced to Sian Aynsely, Information Skills trainer for the South London Healthcare NHS Trust, who gave a presentation on Social Media and its usage in London NHS information services. She discussed a survey that herself and a colleague had conducted within the London health library network and it's findings. She confirmed that social media is widely used within the network and discussed the drawbacks and access issues that can arise within the network while accessing social media platforms, although she noted that access to social media is widely assumed.

For more information about the content of the event, you can view Richard's presentation slides here, where he provides links to useful information and resources discussed. You can find out more about the London Health Library network on the London Links website, where details of upcoming events are posted.